Baguio City – Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) colleges and universities struggled mightily during the October 2018 Certified Public Accountant Licensure Examination even as the national passing rate drops to 25.19%, down from the 28.92% last May.
University of Baguio (UB) led CAR schools in success rate, producing 9 new CPAs out of the 17 candidates they fielded for a 52.94% passing rate. They doubled the national rate where about one out of four comes out successfully in the national level.
| Oct 2018 CPA Licensure Exam Results | ||||
| School | Passers | Total examinees | Success rate | Conditnoned |
| University of Baguio | 9 | 17 | 52.94% | 1 |
| Saint Louis University | 82 | 299 | 27.42% | 34 |
| University of the Cordilleras | 14 | 54 | 25.93% | 6 |
| AMA Computer College – Baguio | 1 | 7 | 14.29% | 0 |
| Divne Word College of Bangued | 1 | 25 | 4.00% | 0 |
| Kings College of the Philippines – Benguet | 2 | 61 | 3.28% | 0 |
| Cordillera Career Development College | 0 | 28 | 0.00% | 1 |
| Mountain Province State Polytechnic College | 0 | 26 | 0.00% | 1 |
| Ifugao State University | 0 | 12 | 0.00% | 0 |
| Kalinga State University | 0 | 11 | 0.00% | 0 |
A total of 3,616 out of 14,355 candidates became CPAs during the second CPA licensure exam this year administered by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) in the cities of Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legaspi, Lucena, Tacloban and Tuguegarao on October 6,7 and 13, 2018.
The 17 examinees of UB, however, was just the seventh largest behind Saint Louis University (SLU), Kings College of the Phillipines – Benguet (KCP), University of the Cordilleras (UC), Cordillera Career Development College (CCDC), Mountain Province State Polytechnic College (MPSPC), and Divine Word College – Bangued.
SLU, still the top producer of CPAs in Northern Luzon, was second when 82 of their 299 candidates successfully hurdled the exams for a 27.42% passing rate.
SLU, however, struggled when pitted against other schools who fielded over 100 examinees. There were 23 others schools that had over 100 candidates and the average passing rate including that of SLU was at 31.32% (1,325/4,230).
| National passing rate | 3,616 | 14,355 | 25.19% | 884 |
| Schools with over 100 examinees | 1,325 | 4,230 | 31.32% | 305 |
The other CAR schools did not fare well either. UC, which perennially does better when compared to the national rate, barely got over the national passing rate this time. The seven other remaining schools produced just four passers out 170 candidates combined.
On a brighter note, the Divine Word College of Bangued improved its performance this time by producing a CPA compared to its being blanked during the first examination this year.
University of the Philippines – Diliman led the schools with its 94.52% (69/73) passing rate, followed by De La Salle University – Manila with 86.84% (76/66).
Lahaira Amy Cayog Reyes of University of Santo Tomas topped the exams by garnering a 91.83% rating. Von Zedrick Bautista Cruz of Kingfisher School of Business and Finance was tied for 10th place with a 89.33% rating.
The national passing rate this examination was the lowest since the 19.98% in July of 2014. The highest success rate during the last five years was 42.84% obtained during the May 2016 examination.
The 3-day examination covered the following subjects: auditing and management advisory services, taxation and regulatory framework for business transactions, financial accounting and reporting and advanced financial accounting and reporting.
The Board of Accountancy has decided that the the October 2018 CPA Licensure Examinations and thereafter shall cover the new and old provisions of certain laws and standards. These include the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN Law, PFRS 9 on” “Financial instruments,” and PFRS 15 on “Revenue from Contracts with Customers.”
According to PRC Resolution No. 2017-1068, the target release of results of the recent CPA board exam was on Monday, October 22 and it was actually released at the target date, six (6) working days after the last exam.
The members of the Board of Accountancy who gave the licensure examination are Joel L. Tan-Torres, Chairman; Gloria T. Baysa, Samuel B. Padilla, Arlyn Juanita S. Villanueva, Thelma S. Ciudadano, Marko Romeo L. Fuentes and Gervacio I. Piator, Members.
CAR schools had far better performances during the May 2018 exams although the national level was terrible.
See story: SLU, UC, UB lead CAR’s notable performance in the May 2018 CPALE
SLU (43.25%) had the second most number of passers in the entire country at 109 and outperformed all schools with 200 or more examinees. UC (50.85%) had an alumnus, Donald Mark Marcos Rapinan, garnering 89.83% rating that was good for 7th place in the top ten, while UB (55.56%) registered the best success rate among CAR schools. All three schools were also way better than the national passing rate at that time.
The other CAR schools generally fared just fine. The Mountain Province State Polytechnic College (MPSPC) had 7 passers out of 28 for a 25.00% passing rate; AMA Computer College – Baguio (2/6, 33.33%); Cordillera Career Development College (5/45, 11.11%); and Kings College of the Philippines – Benguet (7/67, 10.45%).
By: ARMANDO M. BOLISLIS
